A Brief History of the Grove
The land that The Grove Museum is situated on is the ancestral and traditional territory of the Apalachee Nation, the Muscogee Creek Nation, the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Richard Keith Call purchased the original 640 acres of land in 1825, following his involvement in the forced removal of indigenous people from this region. This property is referred to as “hickory grove” in early letters from Call’s wife, Mary Kirkman Call, and this name became “The Grove” over time. Enslaved artisans began construction on the Call-Collins House around 1835. It is a two-story brick mansion in the Greek revival style with a raised basement and a glass addition on the north side of the house, added on in 1952.[1] It served as a private residence to members of the Call and Collins families for about 180 years. Mary Call Collins and her husband, LeRoy Collins, sold the house and property to the State of Florida in 1985, with the express intention of turning it into a place for historic interpretation, but maintained a life lease. Mary Call lived in the home until she passed away in 2009. The State of Florida led preservation and rehabilitation efforts on the house and grounds from 2009 to March 2017, when it opened to the public as The Grove Museum. The mission of The Grove Museum is to preserve and interpret the Call-Collins House, its surrounding acreage, and its historical collections, in order to engage the public in dialogue about civil rights and American history.[2]
